Jesus and Camelot
Tennyson tells us that King Arthur established the order
of the Round Table. A table without a head or foot, where all were
equal in their commitment to justice for all and might for right. His
dream drew knights from all over England and Europe and the effects of
it were felt all over the land when women could walk out in the evening
alone without worry, when doors were left unlocked, when the roads were
cleared of robbers and tyrants were disestablished. But just when things
were flourishing, the greatest knight of them all, Lancelot, set his
eye on the king's wife, Guinevere, and she on him. The wickedness became
known and Lancelot rode away only to return when he heard that the
knights had demanded that Guinevere be tried for treason. She was tried
and condemned to death but Lancelot came and rescued her and carried her
off to France where she entered a convent. The knights and Arthur raged
and for a while there was nothing but inflamed pride and vengeance in
their hearts and so they sailed to France, prepared to make war against
Lancelot and his forces.
Arthur is broken-hearted and dispirited. The dream had
failed, the purpose had died. The great sin of Guinevere and Lancelot
had also exposed the underlying sin of all of them when vengeance and
bitterness reigned and offended pride had proved stronger than
brotherhood and forgiveness.
In the musical adaptation the king is putting on his
armour in the dawn of the day of battle when he hears a rustling in the
bush; it was a boy about twelve who had stowed away on one of the
ships—to kill the enemy and be a knight, he said. Arthur wanted to know
why he would want to be part of an extinct fellowship. Had he ever met a
knight, was his father a knight or had his mother been rescued by a
knight? The answer to all these questions was no, so what did he know of
knights? Only the stories he had heard, the boy said, and when the king
asked him what stories he spoke of justice for all, the round table and
might used in the service of right. As the boy spoke the astonished
king was mouthing the words with him.
Stories! The story of the dream had kept the dream
alive. The stories of righteousness and justice for all kept the vision
alive in the heart of a boy who'd never even seen a knight. The deeply
depressed king has gained new heart and knights the boy Sir Tom of
Warwick with a commission to go home and grow old telling the story of
the meaning of Camelot.
Part of his instruction was this:
Every evening from December to December
Before you fall asleep upon your cot
Think back on all the tales that you remember
Of Camelot.
Ask everyone if he has heard the story
And tell it loud and clear if he has not
Don't let it be forgot
That once there was a spot
For one bright shining moment
That was known as Camelot.
Before you fall asleep upon your cot
Think back on all the tales that you remember
Of Camelot.
Ask everyone if he has heard the story
And tell it loud and clear if he has not
Don't let it be forgot
That once there was a spot
For one bright shining moment
That was known as Camelot.
At that moment an aide comes to remind the king that
they have a battle to fight and win but the king, all smiles and
optimism, assures his companion that their victory already stands before
them in the heart of a boy who cherishes the story and what it means; a
boy who will tell it everywhere he goes. What happens at the
approaching battle is now irrelevant.
The massive truth on which all great fiction is built is
that God's great purpose for the human family was and is accomplished
in and through Jesus Christ and that it is God's wisdom by the
foolishness of a preached message—a Story—to redeem the world (1
Corinthians 1:21). The victory has already been won and in the body of
Jesus Christ, the church, that message about God's dream and purpose
that cannot be thwarted is kept alive in each new generation.
In ultimate truth, the world is saved not by science or
philosophy or political reform however needful these are and no matter
how true it is that these are instruments of God at his pleasure. The
human family is saved and all things in heaven and on earth are
reconciled to God and find their ultimate state of blessing in him about
whom the Story is told.
And the victory over the world is gained in the name of
Jesus Christ through those who cherish the Story and will not let it be
forgot (1 John 5:4-5).
Preachers and teachers and the entire church of God have a commission and a destiny—tell and live out the Story!
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